Aurelio Martinez grew up in the Garifuna village of Plaplaya on the Caribbean coast of Honduras. He’s a percussionist, singer and guitarist who’s played in noted musical groups of Honduras, and now maintains connections to his Garifuna roots while living in the Bronx, NY, where his parents also reside. Aurelio is a native speaker of Garifuna and Spanish and a member of the Honduran Congress. We began our conversation talking about his first instrument.